Minjee Lee the opening round leader at Scottish Open

After missing the medals at the Paris Olympics, Minjee Lee has made an immediate impact in her next event in Scotland.

Minjee Lee has made a great start in Scotland. Picture: Paul Devlin/Getty Images

Minjee Lee made the swift transition from the heat of the Paris Olympics to the wet and wild conditions at the Scottish Open, taking the lead after an opening round delayed by the weather.

Lee, who missed the medals at the Olympics and is yet to record a win in 2024, was among those able to complete her first round, with play extended until 9pm but still not late enough for the full field to finish.

She carded a bogey-free, five-under-par 67 to lead by a single shot, embracing the links challenge that was different entirely to the one Olympic golfers faced at Le Golf National.

“I like the creativity of links golf,” Lee said.

“There was a lot of wind today so it was playing like a true links golf course. Sometimes we don’t get as much wind but today was blowing a gale and picturing the shots and having to execute those shots – I didn’t find it fun to play, just when you execute it correctly, you get rewarded.

“So always a happy girl after a bogey-free round. I feel like I played smart golf, I’d say. I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdie, but you know some putts went in, some putts didn’t.

Here's how we stand at the end of the first day 🌙

Round 1 restarts at 8:30am tomorrow, Round 2 starts at 9am 🕘#TheTrueTest#WSO24@[e-mail]/HTJv7YoSw7

— Women's Scottish Open (@Womens_Scottish) August 15, 2024

“I think I kind of got a little lucky with not playing in the morning with the rain but it was pretty windy out there. I thoroughly enjoyed my day out there today.”

Lee is being stalked by Olympic champion Lydia Ko, with the Kiwi star in a group of six players on three-under, including Lucy Li and Lily May Humphreys who have played 15 and 11 holes respectively.

Of the other Australians in the field, Stephanie Kyriacou, Gabriela Ruffels and Kirsten Rudgeley are one-under having completed 18, 17 and 13 holes respectively, while Grace Kim finished at even par.